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Awake

I think that it is pretty safe to say that most of us are starting to feel like REAL college students. I found myself alone in my room for close to an hour and a half today for the first time.

I had NO idea what to do.

Call ‘Dre? No, she’s probably busy shopping for her dog or taking the DS‘ from the Crays.

Watch something on Hulu or Netflix? Nah, I can only take so much Tyra Banks on ANTM in one day.

Needless to say, I was pretty much at a loss.

Until I spied that shiny black curved shape at the end of my bed.

Something I used all the time when I was bored at home.

So far, one of my two babies–Mack.

My guitar.

The solution to many a dreary, rainy day at Buckingham Bottom helped beat my loneliness in my interim home too!

Music has always been one of my favorite things.

I am a very artfully minded person. I connect with things that are poetically flowing (I can only read The Message Bible with any genuine interest) and I connect with music in a very emotional way. Back at Bare Bulb Coffee–an awesome little place–we did a “Songs That Shape My Soul” series of Sunday nights. Several of us shared the songs that had impacted us. We were given free reign. The first song I chose was perhaps the most controversial in the entire series–but hey, I was being honest. Lady Gaga’s Born This Way. I chose it because I believe that we are all here for a purpose no matter who we are. I played several other songs that I loved.

Thinking back to that time only a little over a year ago, I am completely shocked. I don’t think I would even recognize myself. My almost-seventeen-year-old self probably would not have any idea the songs I would pick today. At different points in my life, different styles of music soothe me.

This would be just one of many I would choose. Folk music has NEVER really been my forte. Until I discovered Mumford & Sons. The brutal honesty in their songs resonates with my so deeply. So does the “liturgical use” of certain language–that quote taken straight from a Methodist pastor in the family. I can listen to this song over and over. Once, a guy came into Bare Bulb and I nearly proposed because he had the lyrics to this song tattooed on his arm in a beautiful script font.

I desperately want my soul to be stirred. I need to feel. I have a feeling that Orientation Week is only the beginning of my awakening process. I had an AMAZING, unexpected hour-and-a-half long conversation with my suitemate and roommate tonight. None of us are overly social–we have the quietest suite on the hall–so we all needed some time just to talk. The conversation ranged from driving regulation differences in Australia and the US to Mercer boys. When we finally decided we might had better sleep, I felt the slightest fluttering in my core. These women. These are the people I will eventually know inside and out and be able to go to for anything.

This is going to be mind-blowing.

So, what songs have shaped your soul? Anything in you need to be awakened?